In many second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) communications systems, a base station (also commonly referred to as a controller, a communications controller, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB, and the like) makes its own decision on how to select users (also commonly referred to as mobile stations, subscribers, terminals, user equipment, and the like) for transmission. Additionally, operating parameters, such as transmit power level, data rate, and the like, may be left unchanged for an extended period of time.
In an attempt to improve network capacity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques have been developed, wherein base stations and/or mobile stations are equipped with multiple antennas (for example, multiple transmit antennas, multiple receive antennas, or both multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas). A commonly used MIMO technique involves the precoding of a transmission to shape the transmission towards its intended recipient. The precoding can also be applied to a MIMO receiver. The precoding information used in a MIMO communications system is also a operating parameter.
Another technique used to improve network capacity is coordinated multipoint processing (CoMP). In general, CoMP schemes employ multiple transmitters and/or receivers to jointly optimize transmission parameters. In a communications system utilizing CoMP, the CoMP configuration is another operating parameter.